Book Review (January): One Foot in the Stars by Matthew Manning

Every month - that is the plan, anyway - I will review a book selected randomly from my Paranormal Library. This month, I will review One Foot in the Stars by Matthew Manning.

Not knowing much about Matthew Manning (besides him becoming a healer after experiencing poltergeist activity in his home when he was younger), I didn't know what to expect. But with each page that I read (and once again, I was excited about reading a new book by a previously unknown author), I quickly warmed to the author's style. I had difficulty stopping myself from comparing the details of the poltergeist activity that the author endured when he was eleven years old (which he described in the book) with the details that I had previously read about another poltergeist case that took place in Enfield, as described by Guy Lyon Playfair, who was one of the investigators of the case and whose book This House Is Haunted describes the phenomena that took place there.
   But the similarities and differences between both books seemed obvious to me: One Foot in the Stars was, like Playfair's book, in a biographical format. Yet unlike This House Is Haunted, Matthew Manning's book is an account of his own experience as the poltergeist agent, since the activity seemed to be centred around him in particular and this fact was supported by Geroge Owen - who Matthew's father contacted for help - as well as the obvious stress Matthew must have felt when he had a school exam to prepare for. Not forgetting, of course, that Matthew was also going to a new school and would be away from home for the first time. That coupled with the somewhat stifled atmosphere around his home - with the expression of affection and creativity being non-existent.
  Another similarity that I found between the two books was the extraordinariness of some of the phenomena, as well as the poltergeist writing unnerving messages. For example, when Matthew left a piece of paper and a pen in a room before later going in again, he discovered that the poltergeist had written 'Matthew Beware' with the Zodiac sign of Leo, which was his birth sign. This was complemented with doodlings on the piece of paper. In comparison, the poltergeist in This House Is Haunted wrote the word 'shit' in that very substance that evidently was bewildering and disturbing to the family that experienced it. Furthermore, like the Enfield poltergeist, the poltergeist that was in Matthew's home also had its times of helpfulness: his younger sister, Rosalind, once couldn't find the rubber whilst she was sketching on the sofa. The poltergeist lifted the rubber up from behind the sofa, placing it next to her. Both Matthew and Rosalind watched this happen. Another similarity between the two accounts is that the phenomena primarily happened when no one else was in the room.
   Similarities and differences aside, Matthew's book provided a fascinating insight into his life - both the unusual experiences he was subject to, as well as the more mundane, even usual aspects. One of the areas that I found most interesting was his account of being an author at eighteen, and how the thrill and excitement (as well as, later, the stress that he endured) at travelling around the world in order to publicise his book, The Link, affected him - not forgetting, of course, the various criticisms he received from the American media whilst he was in the USA.
  In the book, he also describes some of the television appearances that he made, primarily due to the efforts and contacts of his manager, Peter Bander, as well as some of the experiments he took part in, in which the objective for him was to either channel, from a deceased personality called Thomas Penn, correct information concerning the health issues of an anonymous, unknown individual, or to bend or influence solid objects using his psychic powers in a demonstration of psychokinesis. Although Matthew does give a fair amount of detail to these, having a personal interest in all things PK, I would have liked to read a whole lot more about these experiments that he took part in (he did give a sufficient amount of detail to tickle my interest, though!). Probably my favourite aspect of these experiments, however, was one case in which he was demonstrating his automatic writing ability to Dr Hans Bender. He was given a birth date and name, as usual, and was asked to sketch a piece of artwork from the deceased artist, with whom he was unfamiliar, but who, he was told, was a woman. The drawing that Matthew produced was "a face of inexpressible sadness with a black heart set in its forehead, drooping eyes and down-turned mouth. Tears ran down its left cheek. On its otherwise bald head were two single hairs. Above these I had written the words 'Harliquin out of love'..."with the word harlequin misspelt. This test, amongst the others arranged by experimenter Hans Bender were filmed, and at this point the experimenter demanded that the filming be stopped. He admitted then to Matthew that the pseudonym he had given him was that of his daughter, who was still coming to terms with the breakdown of her marriage, and who was still having an emotional upheaval with coming to terms with it. He further explained that she had, that morning, described her feelings and '...used the word 'harlequin' to characterise them.' In her world, according to Hans Bender, the emotions of love and hate had "collided" with her.
More was revealed when Hans Bender took Matthew to his house to meet her: his daughter looked like a precise replica of the picture Matthew had drawn; his daughter was in a harlequin costume, with her head shaven, a mix of "sheer terror and intense hatred" on her face.
   Matthew also describes the experiments that had a more practical basis, which he took part in after a personal spiritual "awakening" whilst he was in the Himalayas. This experience was a realisation concerning what next he should do, and was the reason why he changed his approach to experiments. I love the idea of DMILS - Direct Mental Influence on Living Systems - because of all the possible applications it could have. So I was thrilled when Matthew described giving this type of experiment a go.
   One of the great things about the book is that we get to meet some key names of parapsychology - like Charles Tart and Stanley Krippner. The experiments conducted by these researchers were also very interesting, as they involved ESP. But I'll leave the details about those for you to find out, if you read the book.
  There are so many intriguing aspects of Matthew's book, I found it difficult to pick which ones I liked best. As someone also interested in mediumship, I was delighted when there were elements of that inside the book - there was everything from going back into time, to talking to dead people who spoke non-standard English (who appeared to be unaware that they were dead), and who passed onto Matthew their mundane messages or worries, to the deceased man who insisted that he was still the resident of Matthew's parents' house, and who got 503 signatures written by different dead people,etched onto part of Matthew's bedroom wall (which were subsequently checked for authenticity) to Thoman Penn's diagnoses of people's illnesses.
   I could go on and on about what I liked most about in the book and what I enjoyed the most.  Undoubtedly, Matthew's book is like no other. There are plenty of interesting, unexpected twists and turns to it, yet at the same time a sense of seriousness. The book provides a rare insight into what it was like to be an agent for poltergeist activity, which proved intriguing reading.The style contrasts with that of other paranormal biographies, because it provides more of an insight into the author's life, without too many (if any at all) of their personal opinions, which for me was like taking a breath of fresh air. It almost felt like I was seeing things through Matthew's eyes. I would certainly like to get hold of The Link - perhaps more to get a better feel for what it was like to have all of his unusual experiences -but through the eyes of a teenager. One Foot in the Stars is definitely a must-read for anyone who is interested in poltergeist phenomena, psychokinesis, extra-sensory perception, mediumship, or the paranormal in general.

Look out for next month's book review!

References

This House Is Haunted - Playfair, G. L. (2011). USA/UK: White Crow Books.
One Foot in the Stars - Manning, M. (2003) London: Judy Piatkus (Publishers) Limited.